When the Pitt women’s volleyball team had a chance to relax Friday, the day after a tense, five-set Sweet 16 victory against Oregon, coach Dan Fisher and players Valeria Vazquez Gomez and Bre Kelley stopped for a moment to express their feelings.
With an Elite 8 NCAA Tournament game coming up at 5 p.m. Saturday against Kentucky at Petersen Events Center, all three used the word “grateful.”
Fisher, ever practical, was grateful that the NCAA embedded an off day into the schedule, doing away with the two-games-in-two-days format.
“We definitely need (some rest) after a five-set battle, which we feel really good about it,” he said. “It wasn’t always our best, but we feel good about finding a way.”
Fisher said he watched Kentucky video “all (Thursday) night, all (Friday) morning.” He said he slept well after the victory, getting seven hours, which is a feat in itself with so many thoughts about the next two days filling his head.
Back at the Pete, Fisher, coaches and players spent much of Friday watching more Kentucky video before getting on the court and having Pitt’s scout team try to mimic what the next opponent does well.
Kentucky (23-7) started the season 9-7, hasn’t lost since Oct. 13 and will take a 14-game winning streak into the Pete on Saturday. The conference champion Wildcats are one of nine SEC teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
“Stylistically, they are not similar to many teams we’ve played,” Fisher said, “especially with what they do in the middle and overhead.”
But it was a relatively light Pitt practice. Fisher said rest was the most important element of the day.
“We have to manage the load,” he said, “making sure we are as close to 100% as we can be (Saturday).”
Vazquez Gomez, a sixth-year player from Puerto Rico, knows Saturday’s match or one in the Final Four next week in Louisville will be her last with Pitt.
“I’m grateful that I get to play and practice one more day with this team and coaching staff,” she said.
Kelley, a redshirt junior transfer from Florida, said she is “excited and grateful” to have more time with her teammates. She also doesn’t mind that Kentucky is the opponent. She suffered a season-ending injury last year in the Kentucky match, a 3-0 Pitt victory in Lexington.
But there are no hard feelings.
“It means a lot to me just because they ended my season last year,” she said, “but, honestly, I’m just excited to play another day with these girls. It could be any (opponent).”
Like most successful teams, Pitt’s women get along well and help each other through tough times. That’s especially true of Vazquez Gomez, who’s been with the team since 2019.
“She knows this program very well,” Kelley said. “Just knowing she has that background, it keeps us in a comfort zone. If something’s going on — on the court or off the court — we can go to her because she’ll have the answers. She’s a sound person, player for all of us and does a great job taking care of everyone on this team.”
Vazquez Gomez offers encouragement to her teammates whether she’s in the game or on the sideline. With her experience, she appears to be a candidate to coach someday, but she earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology and may end up following that field of study.
Her impact on the Pitt program started the day she arrived, Fisher said.
“From the moment she got here, she just exceeded how good we thought she could be,” he said. “The older girls (at the time) right away (said), ‘She’s really good. This girl’s a winner.’ ”
Kelley offered another example of team camaraderie.
Asked what is said in those conversations either after a point or on the front line, she was short on details. After all, it’s a secret.
“We have our own little saying — I won’t say right now — that we say every time we get to the front row to ensure confidence in each other.”
Even Fisher doesn’t know what it is.
“It truly is secret,” he said.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
